This is a post I wrote to my wife back in 2015 and I thought I’d share, because I think most can relate to some of it in their own walk with God.
Dear Mrs. Smith,
I was just reflecting on the journeys God has taken us to over the past 14 years. How ALL things have worked together for the good. How the sacrifices were not burdensome but joyful. How we lived God’s principles of sowing and reaping in major ways. The times of abundance. The times of lack trusting and seeing His provisions. The great, the good, the bad, and the ugly of all the places we’ve stayed. The leaps of faith. The stumbles. Some of the endless days and weeks of ministry work. The exhaustion. The peace we felt and the wars we fought. The tears we shed in sorrow and also in joyous bliss. The times of being appreciated and the times of being used. Some of the empty lonely roads we traveled. The times we felt like outsiders, and the times we felt like family. The times our breath was taken away when God moved only as He can. The times we asked “why”? The times when we “knew like we knew”. The times we didn’t know yet, just obeyed.
I could probably write a book of all our journeys, but all of these times and so many more, lead up to the climatic moments when we see souls being saved and lives transformed by the power of God. That IS the refreshing! That is when we are blessed above all blessings. Those are the worth-it-all moments. That’s why we live and move and have our being; to know that somehow we played a part in someone coming to Jesus the Savior is priceless”.
Blessings!
Elder Steve Smith